, also transliterated or called or , is the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
god of fishermen and
luck
Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...
. He is one of the , and the only one of the seven to originate purely from Japan without any Buddhist or Taoist influence.
Origins as Hiruko
In medieval times, Ebisu's origin came to be tied together with that of ''Hiruko'' - the first child of
Izanagi
Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally known as
, is the creator deity (''kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can b ...
and
Izanami
, formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifest ...
, born without bones (or, in some stories, without arms and legs) due to his mother's transgression during the marriage ritual. Hiruko struggled to survive but, as he could not stand, he was cast into the sea in a boat of reeds before his third birthday.
[
] The story tells that Hiruko eventually washed ashore—possibly in —and was cared for by the
Ainu . It is however believed that Ebisu first arose as a god among fishermen and that his origin as Hiruko was a much later conception, after the worship of him had spread to merchants and farmers. It is also theorized that he was originally a god known as "
Kotoshironushi
, also known as is a Shinto ''kami''.
In the ''Kojiki'', Kotoshironushi is the son of Ōkuninushi, the earthly deity of Izumo province. When the heavenly deities sent Takemikazuchi to conquer Izumo, Ōkuninushi deferred the decision over whether ...
no Mikoto", son of
Ōkuninushi
Ōkuninushi ( historical orthography: ''Ohokuninushi''), also known as Ō(a)namuchi (''Oho(a)namuchi'') or Ō(a)namochi (''Oho(a)namochi'') among other variants, is a ''kami'' in Japanese mythology. He is one of the central deities in the cycle ...
. He became one of the ''
shichifukujin'' or the seven gods of fortune, which include
Daikokuten
Daikokuten ( 大黒天) is a syncretic Japanese deity of fortune and wealth. Daikokuten originated from Mahākāla, the buddhist version of the Hindu deity Shiva, conflated with the native Shinto god Ōkuninushi.
Overview Mahākāla in East Asia ...
,
Bishamonten,
Benzaiten
Benzaiten (''shinjitai'': 弁才天 or 弁財天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence"), also simply known as Benten (''shinjitai'': 弁天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯天 / 辨天), is a Japanese Buddhist god ...
,
Fukurokuju
In Japan, Fukurokuju (; from Japanese ''fuku'', "happiness"; ''roku'', "wealth"; and ''ju'', "longevity") is one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology. It has been theorized that he is a Japanese assimilation of the Chinese Three Sta ...
,
Jurojin, and
Hotei Hotei may refer to:
*Hotei Station, a Japanese train station
*Tomoyasu Hotei, a Japanese musician
*Budai, known as "Hotei" in Japanese, a semi-historical monk and deity
*''Coralliophila hotei
''Coralliophila hotei'' is a species of sea snail, a ...
.
Ebisu, together with Daikokuten, was considered the most popular of these seven and was venerated in almost every Japanese home.
For some communities, in addition for being a deity of fishing, wealth, and fortune, Ebisu is also associated with objects that would drift ashore from the sea such as logs and even corpses. As part of the ''shichifukujin'', Ebisu has three sets of temples and shrines in Tokyo, the Mukojima, Yamate (Bluff), and Meguro sets.
Legend
The weak child overcame many hardships, grew legs (and, presumably, the rest of his skeletal structure) at the age of three, and became the god Ebisu. He remains slightly crippled and deaf, but mirthful and auspicious nonetheless (hence the title, "The laughing god"). He is often depicted wearing a tall hat—the —holding a rod and a large
red sea bream
Red seabream is a name given to at least two species of fish of the family Sparidae, ''Pagrus major'' and ''Pagellus bogaraveo''.
''Pagrus major''
''Pagrus major'' is of great culinary and cultural importance in Japan, and is known as mada ...
or
sea bass
Sea bass is a common name for a variety of different species of marine fish. Many fish species of various families have been called sea bass.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the fish sold and consumed as sea bass is exclusively the European ba ...
.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...
are also associated with the god and the
fugu
The fugu (; ; ) in Japanese, ''bogeo'' (; 鰒魚) or ''bok'' () in Korean, and ''hétún'' (河豚; 河魨) in Standard Modern Chinese is a pufferfish, normally of the genus ''Takifugu'', ''Lagocephalus'', or ''Sphoeroides'', or a porcupinefish ...
restaurants of Japan will often incorporate Ebisu in their motif.
In fishing communities across Japan it is extremely common to see fishermen ritualistically praying to Ebisu before they head out for the day. The fishermen’s relationship with Ebisu is indicative of Japan’s relationship with nature as a whole. Fishermen tell stories of how Ebisu keeps the ocean safe and pristine, pushing debris to the shore. As Ebisu is said to have no arms or legs, fishermen often suggest it takes 7 years for things like screws, bolts, or umeboshi seeds, to turn up on shore as Ebisu carries the seed in his mouth and crawls his way along the ocean floor. For this reason, it is believed that Ebisu becomes enraged whenever people pollute the ocean.
Cultural relevance
Ebisu's festival is celebrated on the twentieth day of the tenth month, ''
Kannazuki'' (the month without gods). While the other myriad members of the Japanese pantheon gather at
The Grand Shrine of Izumo
, officially Izumo Ōyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. No record gives the date of establishment. Located in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, it is home to two major festivals. It is dedicated to the god , ...
, Ebisu does not hear the summons and is thus still available for worship.
Ebisu is frequently paired with Daikokuten, another of the seven gods of Fortune, in displays of the twin patrons by small shopkeepers. In some versions of the
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
they are father and son (or master and apprentice). Also, these two are often joined by
Fukurokuju
In Japan, Fukurokuju (; from Japanese ''fuku'', "happiness"; ''roku'', "wealth"; and ''ju'', "longevity") is one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology. It has been theorized that he is a Japanese assimilation of the Chinese Three Sta ...
as the "Three Gods of Good Fortune".
As a form of
animal worship
The term Animal worship (or zoolatry) is an umbrella term designating religious or ritual practices involving animals. This includes the worship of animal deities or animal sacrifice. An animal 'cult' is formed when a species is taken to repres ...
ping, Ebisu was often associated with marine
megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, the megafauna (from Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and New Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") comprises the large or giant animals of an area, habitat, or geological period, extinct and/or extant. The most common threshold ...
such as
whales
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
and
whale shark
The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, D ...
s (hence the latter being called the "Ebisu-Shark") that bring in masses of fish and protect fishermen.
Ebisu is depicted or parodied in a wide range of media, from artwork to costumed impersonations at local festivals and in commercial logos and advertisements. One of the most widely recognized product logos is in association with Yebisu beer, which was first brewed in 1890, and was acquired by
Sapporo Brewery
is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Toky ...
.
Ebisu is the basis of the name of the clothing brand
Evisu
Evisu or Evisu Genes is a Japanese designer clothing company that specializes in producing denim wear through traditional, labor-intensive methods.
The brand was founded in 1991 in Osaka, Japan, by Hidehiko Yamane.
Production
The initial pro ...
.
The
B.League
The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...
professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team
Osaka Evessa
is a professional basketball team playing in the B.League, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan. The team is operated by the Human Group Sports Entertainment Company. The team is named after Ebisu. In July 2015 it was announced ...
is named after the local pronunciation of ''Ebisu-sama'' (as ''Ebessan''), reflecting the god’s longstanding importance in the city of
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
. Team
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
Maido-kun is a stylized, childlike depiction of Ebisu wearing a basketball uniform.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebisu (Mythology)
Ainu mythology
Childhood gods
Fortune gods
Commerce gods
Japanese folk religion
Japanese gods
Nature gods
Vaiśravaṇa
Water gods
Hunting gods
Fish gods